Tasmania has one of the lowest rates of young people returning to sentenced youth justice supervision in the country, according to a report issued by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. In Australia, a youth found guilty of an offence can be given one of three different sentences, two of which are known as supervised sentences. These supervised sentences are either detention in a youth justice centre, like Ashley, or a supervised community-based supervision, such as probation. In the four years between 2010–11 and 2014–15, the rate of young people aged 10 to 17 under supervision on an average day decreased the most in Tasmania from 50 to 21 per 10,000 people. While in 2014-15 in Tasmania, the median for days spent under community-based supervision was the highest across the nation at 274 days. The report found it was more likely for a young person to return to sentenced supervision if their first sentence was detention, rather than a community-based sentence. It was also found young people who served shorter initial sentences were more likely to return to sentenced supervision than those who served longer initial sentences. Chairman of the Prisoners’ Legal Service, Greg Barns, said Tasmania’s system of taking a more therapeutic approach to youth justice is to be encouraged. “Tasmania has been fortunate in that we have not has the ridiculous, emotive law-and-order campaigns that have led to the results you have in the Northern Territory and other jurisdictions of locking young people up,” he said. Mr Barns said ideally he would like to see even less youth justice cases going before the courts, and solved with early intervention in more informal settings. Human Services Minister Jacquie Petrusma said the government had invested $5.3 million into a statewide network of youth justice programs, to break the cycle of youth crime and improve the engagement of young people in education, training or employment. “This includes funding of $1.8 million over three years to support the statewide delivery of two Save the Children programs,” she said. “Additionally, in April, we announced our Youth at Risk Strategy and implementation plan, which will have as its main component a redevelopment plan for custodial youth detention in Tasmania.”

Tasmanian leading the way on youth justice

Tasmania has one of the lowest rates of young people returning to sentenced youth justice supervision in the country, according to a report issued by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

In Australia, a youth found guilty of an offence can be given one of three different sentences, two of which are known as supervised sentences.

These supervised sentences are either detention in a youth justice centre, like Ashley, or a supervised community-based supervision, such as probation.

In the four years between 2010–11 and 2014–15, the rate of young people aged 10 to 17 under supervision on an average day decreased the most in Tasmania from 50 to 21 per 10,000 people. While in 2014-15 in Tasmania, the median for days spent under community-based supervision was the highest across the nation at 274 days.

The report found it was more likely for a young person to return to sentenced supervision if their first sentence was detention, rather than a community-based sentence. It was also found young people who served shorter initial sentences were more likely to return to sentenced supervision than those who served longer initial sentences.

Chairman of the Prisoners’ Legal Service, Greg Barns, said Tasmania’s system of taking a more therapeutic approach to youth justice is to be encouraged.

“Tasmania has been fortunate in that we have not has the ridiculous, emotive law-and-order campaigns that have led to the results you have in the Northern Territory and other jurisdictions of locking young people up,” he said.

Mr Barns said ideally he would like to see even less youth justice cases going before the courts, and solved with early intervention in more informal settings.

Human Services Minister Jacquie Petrusma said the government had invested $5.3 million into a statewide network of youth justice programs, to break the cycle of youth crime and improve the engagement of young people in education, training or employment.

“This includes funding of $1.8 million over three years to support the statewide delivery of two Save the Children programs,” she said.

“Additionally, in April, we announced our Youth at Risk Strategy and implementation plan, which will have as its main component a redevelopment plan for custodial youth detention in Tasmania.”